Tag Archives: dailyprompt

What brings a tear of joy to your eye?

Yusuf Islam wrote many great songs and one of those is Father and Son.It brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it. It is a tear of joy generated by a sad experience.

My father once had a terrible fight with one of my brothers.He threw him down the stairs.I was about fourteen and in my bedroom and heard the shouting and the banging on the thin cardboard like walls.

In truth my father was right to engage with his son, my brother was being led astray and was staying out all night,two of his friends had recently died of drug overdoses. So my father was right to be concerned.

It’s not for me to say his confrontation with my brother was the wrong way to go about solving the situation ,but at the time it felt wrong and indeed frightening . Although thankfully no one was hurt.

This line from Father and Son  brings a tear to my eye  every time I hear it. Over many   years it has turned from  a tear  of sorrow  to  a tear  of joy.

“Oh how can I try to explain….cause when I do he turns away again”

It’s the fact my dad was trying to save his son and  doing the best he could and that’s what makes me now  cry tears of joy.

Nothing in life is simple or straight forward,we can only do the best we can to make things better.

Father and Son will always be a special song to me.

Why do you blog?

I imagine being asked by my little Alien(above) why I blog and it struck me ,it is to communicate.Which is really very exciting and any channel that encourages open communication is a good thing isn’t it?

Harvey

Me : Harvey?

Harvey : Hello

Me: You’re always with me Harvey aren’t you?

Harvey: Humm, I suppose I am, yeah.

Me: Why is that Harvey? I’m happy you’re here and all, it’s not as if you get in the way or anything, I know I’m the only one who can see you.

Harvey: Yup.

Me: But how did this happen? Why are you here and why me?

Harvey : I don’t know why, I’m only a rabbit and a small one at that.

Me: Yes , in the film with Jimmy Stewart, you were six feet weren’t you?

Harvey : Yup, but that was just a film , that was make believe.

Me: So you think you’re real , not make believe?

Harvey: I don’t know, but I know I’m not in a film or on TV or anything like that.

Me: No, we’re not I suppose.(looks down at the ground). Sometimes things feel unreal though.

Harvey : I’d like to be able to tell you why I’m here , but I don’t really know. It’s fun following you about ;that’s all.

Me: Well you are a good friend and you don’t bother me , so I’m happy that you follow me around. You’re very good at getting out of the way, particularly of fast cars, you’ve got good road sense.

Harvey: Comes with the territory.

Me: I suppose it’s daft to ask too many questions isn’t it?

Harvey : No, it’s not daft , it’s just sometimes the answer isn’t always available or maybe there isn’t an answer at all : at the end of the day, I’m just a rabbit.

Me: To me you are Harvey. You’re a very interesting rabbit. Would you like me to rub your ears?

Harvey : Oh yes please, that is one of the perks of this job.

Me: (rubs Harvey’s ears)

Harvey: Hhhmmmn….

Me: Shall we go to the Park, it would be nice to get some fresh air.

Harvey: Yup, why not.

The End

How are you feeling right now?

I’ve got two days to get ready to go on holiday.No work,just concentrated packing,cleaning,tidying,and preening,

And just generally excited about life as the giant bollock hasn’t vanquished me  yet.

What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?

I used to play a little squash,not seriously,but in order to be in a good position to return your opponents shot,the idea was you tried to get back to the T. The T was a line marking in the centre of the court which formed a T shape.

I use that in my daily life and try and adjust to whatever happens on a daily basis,good or bad,by always making adjustments,whether physically or mentally to return to my T point.

The point where I’m ready to face whatever is happening  ,having positioned myself in the best place to deal with it.

I think it’s a good analogy.

Excuse the tennis racket….the T is perfect though

What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?

Well it wasn’t actually me that searched for the wire.It was my poor other half who has been trying to mend his precious rather elderly motorbike for months.Unfortunately it is something electronic.

He’s done a lot,replacing the fuel pump twice and because the electronics were playing up he had to find a way to override the circuit.Hence he looked for and found a Puny bit of wire,available next day delivery online.

And then it begun, three weeks later,after receiving notification that said PBOW had been despatched from Romania of all places,it was posted through our letter box.

He was at work when he received the notification and panicked as our dog was home alone and once ate some wire cable that was posted through the letterbox.

He made his excuses,drove home and found the dog had opened the package but thankfully not yet chewed the cable.The guilty look on the dog’s face meant that my partner had arrived just in time. The dog got an extra walk and the cable was put safely in the drawer

Pleased to say the cable did the job and possibly with a new battery the bike may be up and running,perhaps when we get back from holiday…perhaps.

What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

https://images.app.goo.gl/22vU8Ex3bzkVmJnj9

Z Cars always seemed so real and the Police were decent men and women  who solved crimes and looked after old people.

What’s your favorite time of day?

Anytime is a good time if you live in the moment.

©GeraldineBanksAug2024

What is my favourite recipe?

My favourite recipe by far for a Cornish Pasty. I love them and they are so easy to make from scratch.

They have a great history too, and were used to pay casual workers in past times, for example for working on the ground work in Trenance Gardens in Newquay, the workers were paid a pasty a day for what was incredibly hard labour.( Well it was all in a good cause.) All for the benefit of the great and good of Newquay. Who after completion of the project would be able to promenade through the park in their Sunday Best.

Miners, traditionally, would have a pasty that contained meat and veg one end and a sweet filling the other end for their lunch. Some would throw away the pastry as it was covered in coal dust and they had nowhere to wash their hands down the mine while having their meal.

So a Cornish Pasty has a long history of providing nutrition for people. The first pasty I made was at School and I made a giant one, much to the teacher’s puzzlement. I suppose I miscalculated something and I had one large pasty and one small pasty. Everyone else had the required 6 medium pasties. Whatever, when I brought it home , everyone loved it .

Basically , I think you should make the pastry from scratch( a lost art) and prepare the filling which consists of beef ( not an expensive cut), finely cut potatoes and diced swede or turnip( whichever is available).

Roll the pastry out and make equal size rounds and put a layer of potato, then a layer of swede/turnip and then some beef. Place a small nob of butter on top so as to add flavour and moisture while the pasty is cooking and season each pile with loads of pepper and a little salt. Don’t overfill as you will have to will have to seal the pasty and crimp the edges as best you can. There are encyclopaedias on how to do this correctly.

Once you’re pasties are sitting neatly on the baking tray ready to go in the oven, then brush them all over with beaten egg, to give them a nice rustic brown pastry colour and cook at Gas Mark 6 for around 50 minutes.

Eat when ready, I personally think it’s best to eat them and make a fresh batch each time. And remember it’s nice to share.

Warning: This is not an official recipe and I’m doing it from memory, if I were you and you really want to make a Cornish Pasty do check out the recipes from real cooks and chefs.

Namaste